6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011 EDITOR ANNE WATSON More police patrols for bus drivers ity bus drivers are calling for Cr police patrols after several of their own have been assaulted in recent months. Their demands are justified. In a recent article, The Vancouver Sun stated that 150 drivers have been assaulted on the job in the past year. Bus drivers have to deal with a large threshold of people, as transit is so readily accessible. People who have been out partying and drinking all night most often opt for the bus, as it’s cheaper than taking a cab. But not all drunks are happy-go-lucky and drivers become easy targets. And fare evaders are becoming a more common nuisance, jumping on buses through the back door then accosting the driver when they are told to get off. So what can be done to ensure drivers’ safety? Would more police patrols help? Though more police patrols might help in some cases, police can’t be in all locations 24/7. And if someone riding the bus wants to act out, they will and location won’t maiter. TransLink has seen a surge in ridership this past year surpass- ing its 200 million riders in 2010. That’s a lot of people for bus drivers to deal with. Transit is a service for everyone and when drivers get attacked it only ruins it for the rest of us. If more police are put on patrol, more money is needed to pay them. Fares are already pretty expensive. Vancouver boasts some of the highest transit fares in Canada next to Toronto. And unless you are lucky enough to have a UPass, leaving your car at home and opting for the bus or Skytrain can really add up. TransLink’s new chip technology and fare gates might be a good way to deter some of these offenders, at least some of the fare evaders. But it might not necessarily help drivers facing difficult situations. Maybe the best solution is to have transit police on buses. But do we really need to resort to the same tactics as what airlines have for drivers to be safe? It may come to that but for now let’s just show some respect for bus drivers. OPINION Anne Watson We want to hear from you Did we get a fact wrong? Tell us. Got a different point of view? Write to us. Problems with something we've said? Let us know. Journalism instructor Nicholas Read oversees The Voice. Email him at nread@langara.be.ca The Fol\owt CarToons WI || NO LONGER, be alring In Denmark: oo Gingers are here to stay, banning them pointless your days are numbered. Now the largest sperm bank in the world, Cryos International has gone and turned that upside down because they have decided the demand for redheaded children is a thing of the past. A past that goes back to 100,000 years and includes such famous redheads as Napoleon Bonaparte, Elizabeth I and Winston Churchill. If Cryos is correct on assuming the world doesn’t want any more redheads they haven’t travelled to North America in recent years. Our own Canucks captain Henrik Sedin and left wing brother Daniel have put the redhead back on the |: you are a redhead in Denmark map here in Vancouver. This year the sudden thrust of orange for the B.C. Lions isn’t just in the jersey but also their star quarterback and carrot top Travis Lulay. \ ~ 4 Coulditbethat [J ae ag th 1d’ t eligible bachelor 0 P| N 10 N Prince Harry is being told he is no longer cool when he had only just brought redheads back in vogue. Maybe we have never left. After all the Lucille Ball’s, the Conan Lynda Chapple O’Brien’s and even the Katherine Hepburn’s have always stood out. For redheads worldwide Cryos may be doing them a favour. By stopping the sperm donations they may be keeping to the natural dynamic of becoming a redhead. As many redheads know, mom and dad are often not red at all. It can come as a surprise to them that they have produced a redhead- ed child until they remember grandma had red hair when she was young or Uncle Albert was the fair redhead. So for all those ginger heads out there, do not despair. You are unique and Cryos has just made steps to keep you that way. Common sense needed for the provincial drunk driving laws a crime they didn’t commit. Thankfully, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jon Sigurdson seems to agree, as he ruled yesterday that the province’s year-old impaired driving laws are unconstitutional. After a year of headaches sur- rounding the laws, it’s about time something was done. The new laws, which were instituted in September 2010, basically left police officers as roadside judges, juries and execu- tioners. The cops were in charge of delivering an impaired driving ruling, an immediate roadside prohibition to any driver with a blood-alcohol content of higher than .05 per cent. They were also left with the duty of impounding the offender’s vehicle for three to 30 days. Costs to get vehicles out of impound, pay fines and install the Nee: likes being charged with required vehicle interlock device reached over $5000 for many, even if they were first time offenders. Although ICBC’s figures showed that drunk driving deaths were reduced by 40 per cent in wake of the new laws, the question remains as to how far something like this can be taken. If cutting down the blood-alcohol levels to .05 for drivers yielded a 40 per cent drop in deaths, why not make drunk driving completely OPINION Devon Mackenzie illegal? Better yet, why not ban the sale of alcohol completely so that no one can drive drunk? And, since the new laws allowed police officers to act as roadside judges and juries, while we’re at it, why don’t we allow them to pass judgment on other situations? If they can hand out roadside prohibitions and charges for drunk driving, why not allow them to make guilty or innocent rulings when someone is accused of robbery? Or, better yet, assault? The question here is how silly do the laws have to get before we do something about them? Justice Sigurdson said this in his ruling yesterday: “T recognize the pressing nature and importance of removing impaired drivers from the highway. However, that government objective can be fully and efficiently realized while respecting the rights of the individual driver as well.” Thank you, Justice Sigurdson for proving that common sense, when it comes to realizing laws, still prevails. The Voice is published by Langara College's journalism department. Editorial opinions are those of the staff and are independent of views of the student government and administration. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must be signed. They may be edited for brevity. Names may be withheld in special cases, but your letter must include your name and phone number. HOW TO REACH US PHONE 604-323-5396 FAX 604-323-5398 E-MAIL thevoice@langara.be.ca DROP-IN Room A226 Langara College There is a mailbox at the entrance to the journalism rooms. SNAIL MAIL The Voice 100 West 49th Ave. Vancouver, B.C. VSY 226 WEBSITE wwwlangara.bc.ca/voice EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE: MANAGING EDITOR/ PAGE 6 Anne Watson PAGE EDITORS PAGE 1 Leah Goebel PAGE 2 Jesse Winter PAGE 3 Jared Gnam PAGE 4 Natalie Cameron PAGE 5 Kyla Jonas PAGE 7 Derek Bedry PAGE 8 Carlisle Richards CITY EDITORS Brittany Lee Celina Albany Khethiwe Rudd REPORTERS Moma Cassidy Lynda Chapple Emma Crawford Jennifer Fong Shawn Gill Alexandra Grant Alanna Hardinge-Rooney Matt Hyndman Patrick Johnston Ruman Kang Devon MacKenzie Daniel Palmer Jen St. Denis Carly Wignes Martin Wissmath Contact us: Our blog at www.langara- voice. posterous. com Twitter at @langaraVoice Youtube at VoiceLangara flicker at Langara Voice